


Hora Spissisima

by MeloraMaxwell



Series: Creations [4]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One
Genre: Battle of Autobot City, Dysfunctional Relationships, F/F, F/M, Gen, General idiocy, Humor, Idiots in Love, M/M, Mild Smut, Multi, Rumble and Frenzy are overgrown sparklings, Surgery, Transformers: The Movie (1986), Trauma, crazy prepared Megatron, featuring the deaths of all your favourite G1 characters, femmes are not there to look pretty
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-06
Updated: 2016-04-28
Packaged: 2018-04-03 03:58:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4085794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MeloraMaxwell/pseuds/MeloraMaxwell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Decepticon Empire had one year's warning of the Chaos-Bringer's approach. They had no warning of the loss of Megatron. And apparently no-one realised one heralded the arrival of the other...</p>
<p>AKA How do you fail to notice a planet-devouring moon the size of Saturn sneaking up on you? By paying more attention to the demise of the Decepticon Emperor and the death of the Prime? Yep, that would do it...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: So, yeah, I dug myself out of a comfortable but creativity-free rut, I hit the big three-zero, and I met Simon Furman himself. I managed not to gibber like a complete moron, so I'm quite proud!
> 
> Disclaimer: I own Nightraider, Dreadnought and Crossfire; all other Transformers are the property of TakaraTomy and Hasbro.

 

 

**Deep Space monitoring station, Imperial City State of Iacon...**

_Listening Outpost Gamma, Sector 4, Quadrant 1.497_

/Unidentified object registered 0.6 parsecs from Lithone system. Passive heat scan, high metal ore content registered.../

* * *

_Listening Outpost Gamma, Sector 4, Quadrant 1.495_

/Unidentified object registered in orbital range of Lithone VI.../

* * *

_Listening Outpost Gamma, Sector 4, Quadrant 1.490_

/Unidentified object registered 0.006 parsecs out of Lithone system.

Location of Lithone VI – confirmed.  
Existence of Lithone VI – unconfirmed.../

* * *

_Listening Outpost Gamma, Sector 4, Quadrant 1.487_

/Unidentified object registered 3.2 parsecs from Proxima Centauri, course change noted.

Unidentified object will enter orbital range of Cybertron in 0.87 metacycles.../

* * *

TBC


	2. Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So I have a Tumblr now: meloramaxwell.tumblr.com. There's not much there at the moment, but ask me something and you may get an answer!
> 
> Disclaimer: Nightraider, Dreadnought and Crossfire are my shinies; all other Transformers are the property of TakaraTomy, Marvel and Hasbro. Go have fun.
> 
> Warnings: Spoilers throughout for the '86 movie. If you haven't watched the '86 movie, I'm not upset, just very disappointed.
> 
> Italics denote telepathy

 

**CE 2005, Cybertron, Imperial City State of Iacon, the Imperial Tower...**

* * *

" _Naaaa, na na na na-na-na na, na-na na na-na naaaaaa..._ "

Whatever that noise was, it probably didn't bode well for a quiet shift. Then again, few things in the general vicinity of the repair bay ever did, including the mechs and femmes who worked in there.

Grateful for any opportunity to avoid his admin duties, Knock Out poked his head around the edge of the medical storage area and squinted into the gloom. The sounds of scuffling met his audials, along with two instantly recognisable vocoders.

"Yo. Contact cement or epoxy?"

"Fragged if I know, jus' grab somethin' that says glue."

"Yeah, they're both gonna  _glue_ stuff, genius. Which one's better?"

"Apply previous comment 'Zee."

"...Meh, epoxy'll do. Anythin' wit' an x in the name's gotta be good, right?"

"Can't argue wit' an x."

Knock Out rolled his optics. In the glow of the store's refrigeration unit, he could just make out the blocky form of Frenzy perched on Rumble's equally angular shoulders, hastily gathering tubs of epoxy together with ill-concealed glee. The blue Cassette was clutching several boxes of what looked like different bolts and screws, and a set of glue brushes were slung around his frame on a bandoleer.

"We good?"

"Yep. You told the Coneheads yet?"

"Ready and waitin'. Let's do this."

The red Cassette slid down from his twin's shoulders, slung his bounty into his subspace and charged out into the corridor. Rumble followed at a slightly more sedate pace, muttering under his breath.

" _Naaaa, na na na na-na-na na, na-na na na-na naaaaaa..._ "

Knock Out blinked.

Well,  _that_  happened.

In the main repair bay, Hook snorted and shook his head at the sight of the EMT's over-polished frame lurking in the doorway. "Knock Out, I see your aft, and it isn't doing filing. And if that's Barricade crashing about in the stores, tell him nice try, we already moved the cygars."

Standard procedure when medical supplies had been removed by a non-medic was to tattle-tale to the senior medial officer faster than Starscream with a fusion cannon at his temple, then a quick round of ore-datapad-bolt cutters determined who got to hunt down the unlucky thieves.

The sleek red Aston Martin frowned for a moment, then turned around and shrugged expansively. (1)

"Hmph. I'll pass it on if I see him."

Whatever the twins were planning, their creator and co-creator would deal with it. As long as he did a little blame-shifting first...

* * *

Just as he had done every day of the 18 months since the Decepticon conquest of Cybertron, Soundwave sat patiently at the communications desk, leads plugged into his torso ports, his CPU meticulously scanning the endless lines of Autobot security codes. Laserbeak perched silently on his right shoulder, her scarlet optics studying her creator's actions. Inside Soundwave's tape-deck, Buzzsaw filtered and recorded the information gleaned from the haphazardly secured lines of binary.

The Communications officer imperceptibly narrowed his optic band at two particular lines of code.

/000000011000111100011111000000111...  _Luna Alpha and Luna Beta energon stockpiles severely depleted._ /

/01111100000101000011110010010011000... _Priority transmission for attention of Optimus Prime: energon supplies cleared for collection from Earth city-station Autobot City_./

Unsurprising, considering that for the past 20 years Earth had become the Autobots' main energon supply line. And whatever the Prime's forces had managed to sneak past the Iaconian sensors was clearly not enough to both sustain an army and fuel an assault on Cybertron.

But this was the second decoded transmission that had related to energon supplies on the moons. The first had been not three weeks prior; Buzzsaw had spotted the relevant binary and had flagged it to his creator.

If the Autobots were able to fulfil their energy requirements for both lunar bases from this one delivery...

Soundwave quietly raised his right hand. Laserbeak spread her wings and hovered in the air next to her creator's head. The movement did not go unnoticed by the rest of the senior officers.

"What news, Soundwave?"

"Lord Megatron. Autobot transmission; decoded."

The Decepticon emperor leaned over his officer's shoulder, red optics studying the text unblinkingly. Shockwave spared the duo a glance from his own workstation, grateful for a respite from listening to Starscream whine about his latest aerial recruits.

Megatron leaned back and folded his arms across his chestplates, his brows furrowed in thought.

"Have you been able to confirm if this energon depletion can be replenished from a single supply run?"

"Replenishment levels; unconfirmed. Suggestion; Laserbeak should perform surveillance on Luna Alpha. Autobot vocalisers; know to be loud when silent running is not enforced."

The silver gun-former nodded at the patiently hovering scarlet condor. "Then attend to your duties Laserbeak."

With an avian screech, Laserbeak shot out of the command tower and soared into the Iaconian skies towards Luna Alpha.

* * *

Like her creator, the femme condor had her own suspicions about how well their enemy was managing their fuel supplies.

Unlike the Decepticons who had been quick to establish solar, coal and oil refineries and conversion plants across the Pacific Basin within a few months of their reawakening on Earth, the Autobots had been primarily dependent on the goodwill of humanity and the abilities of their alt-modes to convert Earth fuels into energon. After the Decepticon space bridge had been built in Nevada in late 1984, Megatron's forces had been able to start sending regular shipments back to Cybertron where, under Shockwave's careful management, the last remaining munitions factories had been able to be sustained and then expanded, while others were reopened on a strict schedule.

The energon facility known as Autobot City had been under construction since 2001, and had only reached full production capacity within the past year. Prior to that, the only energon the moons and outposts had received on a semi-regular basis was what the Autobot Femme Division had been able to steal from the storage hangers in Iacon. After the re-conquest, the thefts had dropped to zero.

Laserbeak engaged her signal dampeners as she passed the edge of space and made a wide, graceful arc towards the nest of twinkling lights emanating from Luna Alpha's dark side.

All bets pointed towards the Autobot weapons specialist running his vocaliser off first.

* * *

In Soundwave's quarters, Ratbat pouted and glowered at the scene on the floor, and dug his claws just a little bit harder into his co-creator's cockpit.

Nightraider rolled her optics and tapped at the page icon on her bookpad. "Jealousy is not attractive Ratbat, we've been through this."

The little bat's pout deepened.  _But I was here_ _ **first**_ _, and_ _ **he's**_ _in my spot._

On the floor, his cuddly cybercat at his side and blissfully unaware of the petulant sulk the youngest Cassette was having, Crossfire happily scratched at Ravage's underbelly. The feline Cassette was stretched out on his back, purring in utter contentment, his back legs occasionally pedalling in the air whenever the little gun-former hit a particularly itchy spot.

Nightraider spared her youngest co-creation a glance. "Perhaps he is, but we've all discussed this, and Crossfire loves felinoids and he's a bit... special, so he's allowed to have as much time with Ravage as he wants."

_But_ _**I'm** _ _special._

"You are, but in a different way to Crossfire."

The F-14 was careful to keep her next thoughts to herself.  _Prematurity is one thing. Prematurity combined with what Crossfire was sparked with is another._

She slid down the berth and rolled onto her still-tender side, Ratbat quickly repositioning himself to hang off the side of her cockpit. Reaching down to the floor to grab her cube of low-grade, she paused for a moment to study the luminous pink fuel.

Energon rations were still strictly enforced, even after 18 months of total planetary occupation. The Autobots were in no hurry to squander their meagre resources, and the Decepticons were too long accustomed to running on the lower wartime rations to risk the possibility of increasing their fuel consumption to peacetime levels. However, that didn't mean that rations hadn't increased, or that a number of high grade stills weren't being run out of various sleeping quarters, but the senior officers had left the 'management' of said stills to Swindle.

Officially, this had been listed as 'seemed like a good idea at the time.'

The extra rations were definitely appreciated, not least by the various sets of bondmates dotted throughout Iacon and Darkmount. Obsidian and Strika, Skywarp and Thundercracker, Esmeral and Deathsaurus; to name three pairs and omit probably a dozen more who hadn't been caught out by routine physicals. It was never spoken about openly, but those known to be bonded were granted increased rations in order to maintain functionality when separated from their mates.

As for Soundwave and herself... the past year and a half had taught the femme jet more than a few things about her bondmate.

When on duty and outside their quarters, Soundwave was never anything less than the reserved, hyper-capable Communications officer and joint third-in-command alongside Shockwave. When he was off duty and spending time with his creations, he was still a little reserved, but far more willing to show his emotions and indulge in displays of affection. All of the Cassettes were aware that Soundwave was not the most demonstrative of mechs, but none of them ever doubted how much he cared for them, or how deeply his creator programming was embedded in his core systems.

When the two of them were off duty and alone?

Nightraider held back a smirk as she knocked back the contents of her cube.

Teasing and testing that reserve with her fuselage and their bond until it broke was something she doubted she would ever get tired of. Soundwave had kept his word about making up for lost time in more creative ways than she had anticipated, and even his more straightforward demonstrations of physical appreciation would more often than not end with dented hip plating, her legs slung over his shoulders and her screaming his name at the ceiling.

That alone was worth the extra rations.

Starscream had pleaded for extra soundproofing and an occupancy transfer within two days of his return to Cybertron.

Both requests were ignored.

Neither Soundwave nor Nightraider could bring themselves to care.

A squeak from Crossfire caught her attention. The little gun-former was now giggling as Ravage batted at his hands, his paws always careful to miss the small purple digits, but swiping just close enough to be a playful threat.

Nightraider let a small smile cross her faceplates, one she reserved only for the Cassettes and Crossfire. "What happened to art time, sweetspark?"

Crossfire twisted around to face his guardian, his single optic bright with pleasure. "Art time all done. Time for kitty scratchies!"

"And Ravage just happened to agree with this?"

"Yep!"

Ravage didn't bother moving from where he was sprawled out on the floor.  _Far be it from me to disappoint a sparkling. Especially one who offered so politely._

Ratbat looked wounded.  _...But_ _ **I**_ _can do scratchies. I can do_ _ **good**_ _scratchies._

_You can indeed, little brother. But frankly, anyone who isn't Rumble or Frenzy can provide excellent scratchies._

The feline Cassette's optics narrowed as he sat up and glanced around.  _And speaking of my dear demented siblings, has anyone seen them recently?_

Crossfire shook his head and clutched his cybercat to his chestplates. Ratbat stretched his wings and rubbed at a sticky patch of energon on his cheek.

_They were here a little while ago._

"... _Naaaa, na na na na-na-na na, na-na na na-na naaaaaa..._ "

BANG

Nightraider narrowed her own optics at the sudden burst of music.

"What was that?"

" _Naaaa, na na na na-na-na na, na-na na na-na naaaaaa..._ "

CLONK

Ravage sighed.  _And I think that answers my question._

The F-14 swung her legs off the berth, Ratbat still proudly clinging onto her cockpit, and leaned next to the door, her hand poised over the locking mechanism. "Why does that song sound familiar, and how much will I regret looking outside?"

Ravage stretched and padded towards the door, pausing briefly to pick Crossfire off the floor by the scruff-bar. _Because it's from a video game Rumble and Frenzy both love, and I believe the word you're looking for is immensely. Immensely regret._

Nightraider pressed the lock and stood back. "And the verdict is..."

" _Naaaa, na na na na-na-na na, na-na na na-na NAAAAAA!_ "

CLA-THUNK

The door hissed open in time for all of the occupants to witness a giant ball of plating, spare parts, nuts, bolts, tubs, empty energon cubes and Rumble's legs go rolling down the corridor, all propelled by a giggling Frenzy. The red Cassette had his speakers playing at top volume and was roaring along with the song Nightraider had just heard, which appeared to consist entirely of the word 'na'.

Ratbat and Crossfire immediately started bouncing along to the music from their respective perches. Both of them recognised the track and which game it was from only too well.

Closely following behind the red Cassette were Skywarp, Misfire, Spinister, the Coneheads and Astrotrain; Swindle was bringing up the rear and more interested in counting up his sheaf of credits than looking where he was going.

A black hand swooped across his field of vision and swiped the credits out of his hand. "Hey- oh slag."

The resident weapons dealer's expression morphed from infuriated to petrified in a sparkbeat.

Nightraider leaned against the doorframe, idly glancing back and forth between the credits in her hand and Swindle's panicked expression. "...I have a few questions about this situation."

Swindle tented his fingers together and adopted something approaching a winsome grin. "Can any of them be negated with a healthy bribe?"

"Probably not, but if you feel like trying, then please go ahead."

Ravage sat at his co-creator's feet and peered down the corridor, Crossfire still dangling happily from his jaws.  _The twins got bored and broke into the repair bay stores, didn't they._

Swindle went into full 'plausible deniability' mode. "I can neither confirm nor deny-"

An oil-smooth vocaliser broke in. "Oh, but I can."

Nightraider raised an eye-ridge at the newcomer's familiar frame. "Knock Out."

The EMT flicked a brief salute at his senior officer before leaning against the wall, arms folded across his immaculately polished chassis and an impish grin on his faceplates.

"Can't say I knew what they were planning, but they did get ahold of this..."

He held up a mostly-empty tub of quick-set epoxy.

"Just thought you should know."

Nightraider studied the tub quietly, and then made the universal gesture for 'fork it over'. If this was the stuff she thought it was, her remaining off-duty hours were about to become somewhat complicated.

Well, not so much complicated as fragging irritating.

The combined noise of Frenzy's singing, the assorted clangs and crashes, and the whoops from the others had made the full loop of the senior officers' residential area and was now turning back towards the communal areas.

She slapped the fistful of credits back in Swindle's outstretched palm, yanked a sheet of plastic out of her subspace and wrapped it around her right hand.

* * *

" _Naaaa, na na na na-na-na na, na-na na na-na naaaaaa..._ "

The ball of metal was now clattering down the corridor at an impressive speed, picking up whatever pieces of assorted metal and rubbish lay in its path.

Shoving the ball a few feet in front of him, Frenzy dug his hands into the tub of Vaseline strapped to his front, rubbed the jelly over his palms, and resumed steering the ball around the corner and back down towards the mess hall. Inside the ball, Rumble was screeching with mad glee. "Faster faster faster  _faster_!"

Best. Game. Ever.

Not sure whose idea it was, but still.

Best. Game. Ever.

" _Naaaa, na na na na-na-na na, na-na na na-na naaaaaa!_ "

The ball clanged off the opposite wall and bounced merrily down the corridor. Frenzy charged after it, almost tripping over his own feet to catch it before-

The ball abruptly stopped rolling. Wheezing slightly, Frenzy caught up with it and gave it a shove, mindful that a good portion of the Decepticon Air Corps would soon be halfway up his aft if he didn't move it.

The ball still didn't shift.

" _Naaaa, na na na na-na-na na, na-na na na-na naaaaaa!_ "

Shuffling to the side, he kicked it once.

Tap-tap.

Rumble's voice echoed from inside the ball. "Dude, why'd we stop?"

"Ahem."

Frenzy's optics widened.

Uh-oh.

Knowing that what he was about to see wasn't going to be good, he slowly moved his optics upwards past the ball, past a nervous-looking Swindle, past a smirking Knock Out, and finally stopping at the all-too-familiar and annoyed form of his femme co-creator, one of her hands wrapped in Saran Wrap and resting lightly atop the ball.

Skywarp, Dirge, Ramjet, Thrust and Misfire charged around the corner, took one look at the situation and made one of the fastest tactical retreats ever recorded on Cybertron.

Or at least they would have done, if they hadn't crashed straight into Astrotrain and Spinister. All the flyers hit the deck and proceeded to start an impressive seven-way bitch-fight.

The music thumping out from Frenzy's speakers reached its crescendo, and was joined by Crossfire's and Ratbat's voices in perfect unison.

" _KATAMARI DAMACY!_ "

* * *

"And  _Misfire_!? What  _precisely_  did I  _do_  to deserve the  _punishment_  of training a jet with  _all_  the self-preservation instincts of a  _cyberbee_  and  _targeting_  accuracy of an  _air-rifle_!?" Starscream made a sweeping gesture towards the Decepticon Air Corps training area before resting a hand on his hip plating.

Not for the first time, Shockwave idly mused on what precisely  _he_  had done to deserve having the silver and red F-15 raving at full auto-shriek in his left audial. Then again, when Starscream felt he had been hard-done-by, he tended to throw a sulk around whatever or whoever was most convenient; failing that he would stalk off to the medical bay and attempt to flirt with/irritate Lyzack. The young femme jet fortunately seemed to be immune to his advances, going so far as to threaten the Air Commander with a sword through the spark via the exhaust pipe unless he backed off.

Starscream just shrugged off the distinct possibility of grievous bodily harm and kept on pushing.

The Military Operations officer was just about to suggest Lyzack as a substitute sounding board when the tower's proximity sensors went off.

Megatron rose from his throne and Soundwave pushed himself away from his console and moved to stand beside his purple colleague, his spark unclenching in relief at the sight of his only femme creation darting across the Iaconian skyline.

"Laserbeak returns, Megatron." The purple gun-former lowered the energy partition in the main window.

Laserbeak swooped through the open window and immediately perched on Megatron's arm, her optics bright.

The Decepticon emperor treated the condor to a rare smile. "Welcome, Laserbeak. Unlike some of my  _other_  warriors," here he shot a pointed look at Starscream, " _you_  never fail me."

Starscream returned the look with a snarl of his own.

Megatron raised his arm, launching the scarlet Cassette back into the air. "Soundwave, play back Laserbeak's findings."

"As you command, Megatron."

Laserbeak glided across the room and slotted precisely into her creator's tape deck. Soundwave shifted effortlessly to his alt-mode and connected himself to the main Iacon database.

Inside his tape deck, Laserbeak's playback systems engaged as her frame settled next to her beloved twin's. Buzzsaw sent a quiet pulse of pride through their bond, as he always did whenever his sister safely returned from a mission.

The main viewscreen flickered, and reformed into the all-too-familiar faceplates of Optimus Prime, his right hand raised and index finger pointed as if to issue one of his famous decrees. " **I want you to make a special run to Autobot City on Earth.** "

Footage of open flight paths between Earth and Cybertron flickered across the screen.

Ironhide was next to speak. " **But Prime...!** "

The Autobot commander cut him off. " **Listen Ironhide, we don't have enough energon cubes to power a full-scale assault. Ready the shuttle for launch.** "

The screen displayed an image of the  _Rebellion_ , one of the latest Autobot-Terran military cruisers, refuelling in the Luna Alpha shipyard.

Prime appeared one final time, watching as the shuttle departed the moon base in a cloud of fuel and flames. " **Now, all we need is a little energon, and a lot of luck.** "

Shockwave and Starscream exchanged significant looks.

The screen cut to static, bathing Megatron's almost gleeful expression in an eerie glow. He chuckled darkly and pointed at the monitor. "More than you  _imagine_ , Optimus Prime."

He turned and nodded at his second-in –command. "Starscream, isolate the flight path of the  _Rebellion_  and confirm ETA on Earth."

"As you  _command_ , oh mighty  _Megatron_." Starscream offered a mocking bow and went about his duties.

Megatron ignored him and turned to Shockwave, placing a firm hand on his shoulder. "Shockwave, once Starscream has confirmed the flight path, set co-ordinates on the space bridge to teleport a strike force to the Martian asteroid belt."

Shockwave simply nodded. "It shall be done as you ask."

Finally, Soundwave fell under his leader's inscrutable gaze. "Soundwave, assemble all of your Cassettes. Their skill sets will be of great value to us when we arrive on Earth."

The Communications officer nodded and turned to leave the command deck. His spark flickered; the psychic energy tugging at the bonds between himself, his bondmate and his creations.

Buzzsaw and Laserbeak were naturally the first to respond, safely pressed against each other and his spark chamber in turn. Ravage and Ratbat were next to respond; the felinoid's mental energy charged with malevolent amusement while his baby brother's energy bounced and fluctuated with delight.

Nightraider radiated sheer frustration through their bond when he probed deeper, along with a 'suggestion' that was more of a demand to move his aft down to the repair bay.

Inwardly, Soundwave groaned.

If his bondmate was that peeved, and Ravage and Ratbat were both amused, and the twins had yet to respond...

He let his pedes carry him into the lift closest to the entrance to the repair bay and braced himself.

* * *

Knock Out leaned against the doorway into the repair bay wash racks, smirking in somewhat perverted delight.

"Soapy femme!"

Frenzy coughed carwash shampoo out of his vocaliser and tried to yank his hands away from the Katamari.

"Nnnnnngh!"

"I told you; don't pull at it until I say so!"

"But I'm itchy!"

"Do I look like I give a flying frag if you're itchy? Now shut up and brace yourself."

Nightraider turned the high-pressure hose on the middle of the room and braced herself as several gallons of hexane, water and energon splashed over the whining Cassette-Katamari.

"Yank as hard as you can!"

The red Cassette braced himself against the Katamari and wrenched his arms backwards. The metal creaked, but not a single gap could be seen in the epoxy bonds that attached him to the giant ball in spite of the petroleum jelly over his hands.

"Nope, nuthin'!"

Nightraider shut the hose off and slumped down on the tiled floor, her faceplates scrunched up in exasperation. Behind her, safely cuddled in a pile of clean buffing rags, Ravage watched the proceedings with an almost unholy glee. Ratbat and Crossfire giggled together, the little bat's dislike of the gun-former temporarily forgotten, both occasionally squeaking "Katamari Damacy" whenever Rumble, Frenzy or Nightraider emitted a particularly choice phrase.

"I  _repeat_ , soapy femme!"

Nightraider glowered at the EMT and attempted to wipe the smears of WD-40 and soap scum off her arms and legs. "Very well observed and yet no-one cares. Are you actually  _going_  to help me?"

Knock Out studied his fingertips with a practiced air of nonchalance. "Primus no; I'm off duty."

"Then why are you still hanging around? You aren't exactly known for  _appreciating_  femmes in the way you're suggesting."

The Aston Martin acknowledged her words with a head tilt and a shrug. "Perhaps, but I can still appreciate a nice soapy fuselage when it's in front of me. And you know all medics take their kicks wherever they can get them."

He wiggled his eye-ridges. Nightraider rolled her optics, then brightened up slightly as a familiar and beloved frame appeared behind Knock Out's shoulder.

"Well, appreciate it somewhere else. The creator's in the house."

Inside the Katamari, Rumble produced a sound akin to a panicked squawk. Frenzy desperately yanked at his hands again and whimpered.

Soundwave stepped around Knock Out's departing frame and into the wash racks. His optic band took in the scene before him; the giant ball made of spare parts, nuts and bolts and what appeared to be both Rumble and Frenzy; his eldest and youngest Cassettes watching in happy anticipation of what their creator would do to their siblings; Crossfire cuddled next to Ravage and giggling in delight, and lastly his bondmate sitting in a puddle of soapy energon and water, covered in oil and soap smears with a look of murder in her optics. The sight of the latter in her current state did cause a small burst of static build-up in his interface unit, but that could and would be acted upon later.

He said nothing for a few moments. After several million years of witnessing the twins' unparalleled lack of judgement, very few of their antics could ever faze him now. Nightraider idly tapped her fingers against the tiles and waited.

"Confirm; type of adhesive used?"

The F-14 simply held up the remaining tub of epoxy.

"Conventional cleaning and separation methods; unsuccessful?"

Nightraider exhaled. "There is one guaranteed method, but it might be seen as a tad extreme."

Frenzy finally piped up. "We choose extreme!"

"You don't even know what it is."

Rumble's voice cheerily wafted out from inside the Katamari. "We'll still go for it!"

Nightraider silently transmitted the separation method to her mate through their bond. Soundwave glanced briefly at the ball, then at his chronometer, and then knelt down next to the femme jet.

"Separation method; will not damage them?"

"Strictly cosmetic damage only."

"Treatment; duration?"

"Half an hour; one hour tops?"

"Terms; acceptable."

Nightraider smirked and raised a hand up to his face. With only his Cassettes and Crossfire there to witness it, Soundwave pressed his hand over his femme's and held it against his face-mask.

The femme jet briefly rested her helm against his. "And people say you never give me presents."

Soundwave stood, lifting Nightraider up with him. "Request; separate Cassettes quickly. All Cassettes; required for Earth infiltration mission."

Knowing she would get the details soon enough, the F-14 sauntered towards the door, evil delight shining in her optics.

"Oh Lyzack?"

The teal femme jet poked her head round the door. "Yes?"

Nightraider beamed. "Could you be a dear and rustle me up a tank of liquid nitrogen and a sledgehammer please?"

Both of the twins squeaked.

* * *

TBC

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (1) Be honest, do you want the suave ball of snark and snuggles that is TFP Knock Out, or the nonentity backhoe from G1 who passes out when he gets too excited?


	3. Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Portions of this fic will soon start intersecting a bit more with Crossfire, particularly with regards to why he isn't...quite the same as other sparklings of his age.
> 
> Also, I'll be cross-posting my work on Tumblr, so anyone who has questions, head over there and go nuts!

 

 

 

**CE 2005, Cybertron, Imperial City State of Iacon, the Imperial Tower...**

* * *

"Spray."

Lyzack pulled the trigger and watched as the fourth blast of liquid nitrogen covered the steadily reducing Katamari with a fine white mist.

"Hold."

Nightraider hefted her sledgehammer onto her shoulder, quietly studying the giant ball for the next potential weak spot. Beside her, Frenzy made yet another gargantuan effort to yank his hands away from the ball and failed miserably.

"Bored."

The F-14 glared down at the Cassette and readied the sledgehammer. "Did I say you could speak?"

Frenzy glowered right back. "Still bored."

"Your problem."

The sledgehammer fell with a deeply satisfying CLONG.

"OOOOWWWWWWWWW!"

Several bolts and two wall plates hit the floor of the medbay, but Frenzy's hands still remained attached to the ball. Inside the Katamari, Rumble felt it was time to chip in with his two credits. "This ain't helpin' to reduce any claustrophobic tendencies I might be repressin'!"

"You're making the dangerous assumption that I currently  _care_  about any claustrophobic tendencies you may be repressing."

"Soundwave wants us undamaged!"

Nightraider heaved the sledgehammer back onto her shoulder. "The exact phrase used was 'cosmetic damage only'. I'm more than happy to widely interpret what cosmetic damage is in this case."

She gestured to the next likely-looking spot on the eastern side of the ball and nodded at Lyzack. "Spray."

The teal tetra-jet sent another blast of liquid nitrogen over the Katamari, withdrawing at speed when a fairly large chunk of metal and empty energon cubes detached from the ball. Blinking in the sudden flood of light, Rumble scrunched his faceplates up a few times to get the dead feeling out of his cranial sub-systems, and sighed with relief.

"Freedom!"

Lyzack tried very hard to choose between a look of either revulsion or amusement. Eventually she settled on the same facial arrangement as anyone who had witnessed Skywarp attempting to do the Dance of the Seven Veils for Thundercracker's online-day celebrations while half-cut on Astrotrain's homebrewed mid-grade.

Most of the Air Corps had been wearing that expression for almost a week afterwards.

"That was like watching a giant egg hatching, but without any of the charm and mystery of birth."

Nightraider hiked one shoulder in a vague approximation of a shrug. "The aftermath is pretty similar to birth. A large mess and a general feeling of uncertainty and horror at what's been unleashed on an unsuspecting world."

Rumble gave his co-creator a reproachful look. "I'm pretty sure I'm s'posed ta be insulted by that."

"What  _you_  want doesn't really feature much here. Hold."

Lyzack shut off the nozzle.

The F-14 swung the sledgehammer around and down.

BONK.

Frenzy roared in shock. "STILL OOOOWWWWWW!"

"Still your problem!"

From his perch on the opposite berth, Knock Out leaned forward, equal parts hopeful glee and malice lighting his optics. "Can I have a try?"

His CMO spared him a flat glare. "No."

He pouted and fluttered his optical lids. "But I  _wanna_."

"I know you do, but unlike most of the assembled medics in here, I  _might_  actually  _stop_  hitting when these two idiots are detached."

Rumble fluttered his own optical lids in what he thought was an endearing way, but actually made him look like he had an ocular infection. "Would the 'might' be replaced with a 'will' if we say sorry?"

Nightraider rested the head of the sledgehammer at her feet and rested her arms against the top of the handle. "Depends on whether it's a convincing sorry."

"...I'm not sure we can make that kind o' commitment."

"Then you're slag outta luck. Lyzack, crowbar."

Lyzack dug her crowbar out of her subspace and jammed it into a likely-looking crack Nightraider pointed to, just to the right side of Rumble's head.

"Just wedge the gap open as best you can, and then twist the first thing you can grab."

"As the minister of Primus said to the new-build acolyte."

Nightraider cuffed Knock Out across the side of the head without turning round.

* * *

Leaning against the wall opposite the medbay doors, Soundwave heard the familiar clang of his bondmate's hand against her EMT's head and sighed. Nightraider tended to favour percussive maintenance as the default repair and silencing tactic whenever she was placed in charge of the medical wards. Never against a youngling, or those who were seriously injured, but any mech or femme who required minor repairs due to their own idiocy would more often than not begin their treatment in triage with a healthy smack upside the cranial unit.

The young Aston Martin however tended to receive percussive maintenance as a form of affection, or possibly just as an instructional guide; he wasn't actually sure which suited better. Either way, Knock Out had long since been admitted into the rare group of mechs and femmes that the Femme CMO would willingly donate organs to if it was ever required.

Lyzack had been quick to make the list as well. The younger twin of Leozack, she and her brother had joined up after their city state of Carburisia had been shelled by Autobot friendly fire. Leozack had been inducted into the Breastforce (1) early on, but Lyzack had floundered for a while, undergoing the standard stealth training and spending time with the supply units and on the front lines before she had found her calling.

Calling possibly wasn't the most accurate term, but after being collared and shoved in the direction of the field medical unit by Dreadnought during a bombing run, having a dripping mass of Predacon innards shoved into her arms by Nightraider eight seconds after arriving in the metal-lined bunker, and ordered to weld until Razorclaw's secondary energon lines no longer resembled the average sprinkler system, the teal tetra-jet had taken on surgical and repair duties with scarcely a hitch.

* * *

The crowbar made a horrific screeching noise as it slid over the jagged edges of the Katamari. Lyzack offlined her audials against the noise and kept chiselling away until the crowbar was finally stuck fast between a plate of what looked like aluminium and the remains of what looked to be a very nice toolbox. She reactivated her audials at emergency volume; just enough to hear if anything was likely to break through the leverage.

"We're in."

The CMO nodded and moved to grip onto the crowbar. "Right. I'll hold, you declutter."

Bolts, power tools, cubes and assorted pieces of limbs flew out in a fairly steady shower as Lyzack dug into the gap. The Katamari gave a few ominous-sounding creaks, but otherwise stayed stubbornly intact. The F-14 wiggled the crowbar back and forth a few times without any noticeable effect.

A warm, scarred limb caught the younger jet's attention. She tapped on it a couple of times, and then leaned over the top of the ball.

"Rumble, which limb is this and how attached are you to it?"

The blue Cassette looked slightly nervous. "Left arm and very? Very attached?"

Lyzack grinned and twisted.

SCREEEEETHOOOOOOOOSH

Rumble's scream was drowned out by the sound of the Katamari finally breaking down into its component pieces. Frenzy only just managed to yank his hands free from a piece of crushed plating before a tidal wave of spare parts engulfed his battered frame. The two jets managed to leap clear and hovered in mid-air while the wreckage exploded outwards. Knock Out frantically drew his legs up to his torso plating and shielded his head from any incoming bolts.

For a moment, silence reigned over the med-bay.

Frenzy burst out of a pile of plating and tools, spat a few screws out of his mouth, and raised his arms above his head. "WOOHOO!"

Rumble finally emerged from under a nest of empty cubes, his plating ragged but his mood triumphant. "YEAH!"

Knock Out looked down at his legs and wailed. "MY PAINT JOB!"

Nightraider and Lyzack facepalmed.

* * *

"Oh fragging  _fabulous_. A  _queue_."

Soundwave refrained from rolling his optics at the all-too-familiar rasp of the F-15's vocaliser. He unfolded his arms and pushed himself away from the wall to stand squarely before the red and silver mech he despised most of all.

Eighteen months hadn't seen much of a positive change in Starscream's personality. The Air Commander still favoured whining as his primary method of attack and defence, with perhaps just a little more snark than was sensible for a mech in his position. Consolidating all of the scattered Seekers and flight model troops into two primary air units had strengthened Starscream's power base within the Decepticon ranks, and there seemed to be a new and unwelcome undercurrent in the Air Commander's dealings with Megatron. Instead of making assassination attempts every other joor, Starscream now appeared to be picking his battles more carefully, choosing to seethe quietly instead of throwing a tantrum worthy of the average sparkling.

Even Soundwave was unsure what had prompted this change. The F-15 had long been in the practice of shielding his mental processes from the Communication officer's psychic probing, so there was little he could glean from any stray thoughts.

But Starscream had never been a mech to play the long game. It simply wasn't in his nature, which was geared towards satisfying his own immediate desires and letting others worry about the details.

The others luckily, or perhaps unluckily, tended to be the other members of the Elite trine and the Coneheads, all of whom were lurking behind their commander and peering curiously over his shoulders.

The Air Commander flexed his wingtips, puffed out his chestplates and leaned back slightly in order to better sneer down his nasal plating. " _How_  much  _longer_  is this  _likely_  to  _take_ ,  _Soundwave_? When Lord Megatron issues an  _order_ , we must  _always_  be  _ready_  to carry out his  _will_."

Skywarp folded his arms behind his head and smirked. "Wow. Practice that much 'Screamer?"

Thrust just cackled. "Only 'til he could say it with a straight face!"

Without even glancing behind, Starscream snapped his hand back to smack into the red Conehead's faceplates.

"Owww!"

Thrust rubbed a tender cheekplate. "That hurt!"

" _Oh_ ,  _how_  my spark  _bleeds_  for you."

The F-15 kept his glare trained on his fellow officer. " _Well_? How  _long_  until your little  _brats_  are ready to do  _something_  halfway  _useful_  for once in their miserable  _lives_?"

Inside Soundwave's tape deck, Ravage stirred slightly and growled at the jet's tone.  _A court marshal versus reaching a new height of smug superiority if I eject now and bite him. Decisions, decisions._

Buzzsaw let out a mental warble of amusement.  _Dear brother, you don't want to bite Starscream. You don't know where he's been._

_Unless the five-second rule applies to any physical contact with our beloved Air Commander?_  Laserbeak instinctively echoed her twin's call.

Ratbat's glower was felt throughout the link.  _No. Starscream's icky even without the five-second rule._

Any further retorts were silenced as Nightraider came stomping out of the medbay, her arms outstretched and Rumble and Frenzy both hanging upside down from her clenched fists like a pair of de-plated petrorabbits.

"Congratulations, its twins."

Soundwave simply extended his own arms and pulled his eldest pair of Cassettes out of his bondmate's death grip.

"Rumble and Frenzy; unharmed?"

The F-14 folded her arms across her cockpit. "If you take unharmed to mean 'no more dinged up than usual and so help me Primus if I see them in medbay again within the next two orns, they will get a hexane flush aft-first'."

"Hint; taken."

Nightraider turned and shot a look at her fellow fliers, all watching the exchange with no small amount of glee, and Starscream with no small expression of disgust.

"So what have you lot done to deserve the services of the medbay?"

Skywarp raised a cheery hand and grinned. "Mission to Earth. Spacebridging out. You do gyroscope fix-up so we no go sicky?"

The F-14 rolled her optics and gestured for them to go in ahead of her. "Quit with the sparkling-talk and we'll fix all of you up with the minimum of stabbing."

As the six jets clattered noisily into the medbay, she turned back to face her bondmate and opened up the link.  _I'm assuming this is why you need your eldest twin hellions fully functional._

Soundwave nodded.  _Correct. I would suggest you request Dreadnought's services before we depart._

_Oh joy. What's the mission?_

_Take over an Autobot vessel, use it to gain entry to Autobot City and destroy the facilities._

_Ah. So that's why the 'Structies are conspicuous by their absence._

_Devastator's abilities will no doubt be required. If all goes well, expect light to medium casualties. If not..._

What would occur if it didn't go well would always remain unsaid.

Nightraider briefly glanced around before she stood on the tips of her pedes and rested her forehead against Soundwave's helm. "Come back alive."

Soundwave deactivated his facemask long enough to dip his head and press his mouth to hers.

"Always."

Safely inside their creator's tape-deck, Ravage, Laserbeak, Buzzsaw and Ratbat gratefully absorbed the wave of love and security that filtered through the link.

Rumble and Frenzy, both still hanging upside down, just made simultaneous gagging noises.

* * *

Lyzack clamped down on the urge to kill her commanding officer.

Just.

"Your gyroscope is now fitted to withstand spacebridge travel. Now kindly move and let me sort out the others."

Starscream leaned into Lyzack's personal space as much as he dared and assumed his most seductive expression. " _Honestly_ , is it  _that_  hard to  _admit_  that you might  _miss_  me? That you might  _long_  to  _know_  that I'm  _safe_? To  _confess_  that you  _yearn_  for the  _completion_  of this  _mission_  and my safe  _return_  to your  _loving_  embrace?"

Behind him, Knock Out pretended to purge into the nearest sharps bin.

Skywarp, strapped onto the nearest berth, was watching the scene with wide optics while Thundercracker was keeping a cautious watch both on his commander and on the seething faceplates of Ramjet, who was being quietly restrained by Dirge and Thrust.

The teal tetra-jet didn't lower her screwdriver from where it was pointed at his chestplates. "Only if my 'loving embrace' has chainsaws fitted as standard."

"Ooooh,  _feisty_. I  _do_  like a  _challenge_."

Nightraider marched back into the medbay and hauled the Air Commander away from the EMT by the neck collar. "Really? Then go and  _challenge_  one of the new cadets. There's got to be one or two dim enough to want to play with your circuitry."

The tension in the medbay deflated audibly as Starscream staggered back and hissed. "If you  _don't_  mind  _ **femme**_ , the lovely  _Lyzack_  and I were  _having_  a  _conversation_."

Knock Out deliberately brushed past the Air Commander and steered the younger femme jet safely out of the way, gently pressing her arm down by her side as he moved. "Yes.  _You_  were insinuating things she was uncomfortable with;  _she_  was threatening grievous bodily harm in response."

Nightraider smirked. "I wouldn't worry Lyzack, that's how most femmes speak to 'Screamer."

The three Coneheads roared with laughter, and were quickly joined by the still reclining Skywarp. Thundercracker remained silent, but it didn't stop a small smile from creeping across his faceplates.

Starscream's optics gleamed with smugness as he watched the F-14 lean over to calibrate Skywarp's gyroscopic computer. "Oh  _really_. I don't  _seem_  to remember  _you_  threatening me  _much_ , and we've done  _far_  more than just... _insinuating_."

"Please. My threats are always in proportion to the individual I threaten."

She glanced over her shoulder at Starscream's faceplates, and then let her optics deliberately drift south.

"Or in proportion to certain  _parts_  of the individual at the very least."

Knock Out chortled in delight. "Ooooh,  _burn_."

Realising there was no way to continue the conversation while keeping what remained of his dignity, Starscream spun on his turbine heel and stomped out of the medbay. Skywarp wriggled frantically until he was free of the berth straps, and then scampered out after his trinemate. Thundercracker dashed over to Nightraider and hooked an arm over her wings in a brief hug before making his escape.

Dirge and Thrust retreated to the medbay doors and did their best to lurk unobtrusively, while Knock Out deliberately removed himself to the other side of the bay, enough to grant Lyzack and the handsome white Conehead a small measure of privacy.

The teal tetra-jet twisted her fingers together, all the confidence she'd had while dealing with Starscream temporarily deserting her. "So...another Earth mission?"

"Yep. Nothing we can't handle."

"Cool."

Her vocaliser failed her for a moment before she managed to whisper, "Um...come back safe?"

Ramjet stared down at the floor and scuffed his pedes against the tiles. "Will you be there if I do?"

She blushed. "When have I not been?"

The white F-15 shook his head briefly, a tiny self-conscious smile refusing to move from his faceplates. His hands twitched and made a couple of vague grasping motions in the direction of the teal femme jet.

Lyzack took the initiative. She stepped forward and wrapped one of her hands around his, making Ramjet look up at her with the classic 'petrorabbit-in-headlights' expression, his turbines stuttering in shock.

Lyzack. Was. Holding. His. Hand.

He tried not to squeak like a fledgling with his first crush.

Maybe this mission wouldn't be so bad if he had something to come back to. Especially if it was to someone like her.

He leaned in slightly and paused. Lyzack was biting on her lower lip, her upper dental plate shining in the medbay's strip-lighting. She tilted her head up and paused...

Thrust gave up completely and cupped his hands around his mouth.

"JUST KISS HER, YOU FRAGGING MORON!"

Both jets' faceplates went utterly black with embarrassment. Lyzack dropped Ramjet's hand as if it had a dose of cosmic rust and belted into the wash-racks. Ramjet span around, a look of impending doom in his optics, grabbed both of his cackling trinemates by their wings and shoved them out of the medbay.

* * *

In the silence that followed Nightraider and Knock Out leaned against the back counter and studied the spot where the two Seekers had stood.

The F-14 tilted her head. "Was I ever that bad?"

The Aston Martin squinted thoughtfully. "Nope."

He playfully bumped his hip against hers. "Pretty sure you were worse."

Nightraider shoved him gently in the head before activating her comm. link. "Hey, Dreadnought..."

* * *

Megatron folded his arms across his chestplates and deliberately drummed his fingers against his arm plating as he glared at the assorted Seekers tumbling through the doors of the control room.

"Gentlemechs. Are we finally at quorum?"

Starscream returned his leader's look with one of his own. " _All_  Seekers  _present_  and  _assembled_ , my  _lord_."

The silver gun-former elected to ignore the barely-hidden insolence in his second's tone and instead turned to acknowledge Shockwave, standing patiently at the space-bridge control panel.

"Are the co-ordinates set?"

Shockwave nodded once. "Space-bridge co-ordinates set and locked. Based on the  _Rebellion's_  current trajectory, your safest exit point will be on Ceres."

"All troops, move to the plate and prepare to bridge out. Soundwave, Shockwave; a moment"

As the assembled Decepticons marched through the space-bridge gates, Megatron briefly flicked his optics towards the main command area. Soundwave and Shockwave immediately picked up the gesture and moved away from the space-bridge. Once they had reached a somewhat safe distance, the Decepticon emperor glanced over his shoulder and quietly drew the two officers into a loose huddle.

Using his bulk as a shield from Starscream's glare, Megatron studied both the Communication officer's impassive facemask, and the Military Operation officer's expressionless golden optic, and removed two tiny communication devices - one blue, one purple - from a subspace panel built into his left wrist. "Soundwave."

Soundwave nodded. "Sir."

"I have every intention of returning to Cybertron, whether this mission is successful or otherwise. If, however, I am terminated or injured beyond conceivable repair, activate this device."

He made a gesture with a finger to the blue transmitter. "It has been programmed with one secure line which will only connect to the other receiver."

The Communications officer plucked said transmitter out of his leader's hand and fitted it just behind the armour plating on his right wrist.

Megatron turned his attention to his other third-in-command. "Shockwave."

The purple gun-former's gaze flicked between the remaining device and his commander's faceplates. "Sir?"

"There are two secure lines on  _this_  transmitter. If you are contacted by Soundwave and the worst has happened, activate the second secure line. The code phrase you will give is, 'D-16 has fallen. Silence the sun'."

Soundwave tensed imperceptibly.

He knew exactly what that phrase would be the prelude to.

From what he could garner of his fellow officer's thoughts, Shockwave was also fully aware of what those words would unleash. "They have all been briefed?"

"From the moment they received their brand, they knew. They are the most loyal out of all the soldiers in the empire. They will not fail me, nor you."

Shockwave carefully swept the purple transmitter into his palm with a twist of his fingers.

"And I will not fail you, Lord Megatron."

He snapped off a salute and watched his leader and co-conspirator march into the space-bridge gates.

"Activating in three, two, one..."

Shockwave activated the space-bridge controls, bathing the entire control room in a brilliant flash of otherworldly light.

* * *

**Terran Star System, the Martian-Jovian asteroid belt...**

* * *

In the decades since the Cybertronian War had recommenced on Earth, humanity had been quick to profit from the Autobots' assistance in accelerating their space programs. The joint human/Autobot Earth Defence Command, or EDC, had been formed in early 2003 and had quickly established an Earth space station from the remains of the International Space Station. A long-range station orbiting Pluto had recently been launched, and a further space station was being constructed in deep space. The defences were augmented by a Martian land base, heavily fortified to withstand the frequent meteorite strikes originating from within the Martian-Jovian asteroid belt.

The land base however, had never discovered the Decepticon space bridge terminal hidden on the dwarf-planet Ceres, deep within the asteroid belt. Shockwave, Dreadnought and the engineering team had done themselves proud with the shielding they had erected over the terminal within the past year.

Soundwave jammed one of his portable satellite receivers into the top of a pile of rocks and concentrated. Beside him, his frame rigid from anticipation, Megatron watched the oscilloscope screen on the Communication officer's right forearm, ready to move should the ice-blue lines on the scope so much as flicker.

Behind them, Starscream was keeping watch over the assembled troops, all of whom were locking and loading projectile weapons and fastening grenades onto their plating. Whenever the  _Rebellion_  showed up, she would be in for a very nasty surprise.

"There."

The oscilloscope lines began to pulsate in a familiar movement, a movement that indicated an object of significant mass had just entered tracking range.

The  _Rebellion_  had entered the asteroid belt.

Megatron carefully trained his fusion cannon on a passing comet. "Soundwave, are you ready?"

Soundwave simply raised his own handgun in confirmation.

The Decepticon warlord fired at the comet, watching as it exploded into glistening shards of ice. At the same moment, Soundwave fired his own gun, tracking the listening device as it shot through space and embedded itself in the  _Rebellion's_  orange and yellow hull. The ice shards glanced off the hull of the ship, masking any sound of the tiny drill inside the listening device burrowing through the layers of cybertonium-coated bulkhead plating and tapping into the vessel's comm. system.

Soundwave's comm. link hissed for a moment before the static reformed itself into the sound of a familiar and prissy-sounding vocaliser.

" **...Slow down Ironhide, we want to get to Autobot City in one piece.** "

Autobot SIC Prowl.

Soundwave quickly made two hand gestures to the troops; audio contact made, and prepare to move out.

In his audial, the Autobot weapons specialist grunted as he tugged at the shuttle's steering rack. " **...If I can dodge Decepticon rays, I can sure as shootin' dodge a couple of asteroids.** "

In one almost awe-inspiring wave, the assembled Decepticon forces engaged their jets and took off from the surface of Ceres, Megatron in the lead. Soundwave engaged his own thrusters and launched himself into space, quietly assuming his position next to his leader.

Megatron smirked, took aim at the side of the shuttle, braced, and fired.

The  _Rebellion's_  crew had less than a sparkbeat to realise they were under attack.

* * *

Clouds of purple-tinged electrical smoke swirled in the cockpit's thin atmosphere, along with the scent of ozone and the all-too-familiar aroma of spilled energon. Sparks of electricity danced over the ruined hull plating on the port side of the  _Rebellion's_  flight deck.

The greying corpses of Ratchet, Prowl and the demolitions expert Brawn were sprawled over the deck, vital fluids leaking out of every orifice, and their faceplates contorted in expressions of agony. Ironhide's buckled frame was slumped in a smouldering heap next to the flight control panel, but judging by the lack of grey plating, the old bot was somehow still online.

The Constructions quickly took stock of the status of the troops and noted any wounds sustained. Luckily, beyond a couple of scarred plates and laser burn-marks, troop injuries were non-existent. Content that the majority of the Autobot crew members were never about to get up ever again, Megatron propelled himself out of Starscream's steady grip and transformed out of his alt-mode.

"This was almost too easy, Starscream."

Soundwave jetted past his commander, Bombshell, Skywarp and Dirge alongside him, and assumed command of the  _Rebellion's_  flight controls. The two Seekers quickly took control of the gyroscope and steering, while the Insecticon commander overrode the weapons systems.

The Air Commander wasn't slow to snark back at his leader. " _Much_  easier, almighty  _Megatron_ , than attacking the  _real_  threat; the Autobots'  _moon_  base!"

Soundwave could hear Megatron attempting not to roll his optics.

"You're an  _idiot_ , Starscream."

The silver gun-former marched down the steps of the command platform into the main flight deck, not stopping in his speech. "When we slip by their early warning systems in their own shuttle and destroy Autobot City, the Autobots will be vanquished forever!"

A pained roar emerged from Ironhide's scorch-marked frame. "NO!"

He dragged himself across the floor and latched his trembling arms onto Megatron's right leg. His fingers clawed desperately at the shining plates.

Megatron simply stared down at the top of the weapon specialist's cranium and sneered, "Such heroic nonsense."

He discharged his fusion cannon.

Ironhide didn't get a chance to scream.

* * *

TBC

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (1) Don't laugh, that's honestly what they're called.


	4. Part 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: There may be slightly fewer funsies from here on in – TF:TM wasn't exactly a Robin Williams gig...
> 
> Disclaimer: The phrase you're looking for is 'borrowed from TakaraTomy, Marvel, IDW and Hasbro' regarding Transformers. The phrase you're looking for is 'paws off, mine' regarding Nightraider, Dreadnought and Crossfire.
> 
> The lyrics used are from Roachford's 'Cuddly Toy' – not mine, awesome song though.

 

**CE 2005, North-west Colorado, the Rocky Mountains, Autobot City...**

* * *

Even the best laid plans of Decepticon emperors could not adequately factor in a variable such as this.

One Autobot mech and a human fledgling had been watching the  _Rebellion_  coming into land, spotted the gaping hole in the side of the shuttle, jumped to the correct conclusion, and the young mech had proceeded to open fire. The raiding party had only just made it out of the shuttle before the inevitable explosion, luckily with minimal physical damage.

Any attempt at maintaining stealth was slightly lost in the ensuing bombing run on Autobot City, but the first part of the mission was at least complete.

* * *

Yellow and red laser fire screamed overhead. Explosions rocked the complex, throwing clouds of smoke and metal into the air.

Firing blindly behind him, Soundwave ducked behind a hastily constructed barricade, a blast of Autobot laser fire just missing the top of his helm.

Astrotrain and the Reflector trio immediately returned fire around the sides of the barrier. Two explosions and a strangled scream echoed across the compound.

Overhead, Starscream tore through the gaps between the city's towers, his null-rays set on the green mech and pink femme charging towards the transformation complex.

He fired off a couple of blasts and snarled. "Pathetic  _fools_! There's  _no_   _escape_!"

The sounds of null rays in overdrive disappeared with a sudden screech and an ominous clanking noise.

Tempting as it was to assume the F-15 had just rejoined the Matrix, he had to be professional. Soundwave nodded at Spectro, Spyglass and Viewfinder. "Order; locate Air Commander Starscream."

The little camera-con trio briefly looked askance at their senior officer.

Viewfinder finally piped up. "You're asking us to transform in the middle of battle, and try to confirm if a certain jet has gone to meet his Maker, much to the probable shock and dismay of absolutely no-one?"

Soundwave peeled off a succession of shots over the trio's heads, conveniently taking out an aerial radar scrambler on one of the south towers, and glared at the smaller mechs. "Negative;  _order_ ,  **not**   _request_."

The trio blinked, then transformed; their combined alt-mode of Reflector coming to rest in the Communication officer's outstretched palm.

"Just checking."

Soundwave risked a swift glance over the top of the barricade, and pointed Reflector's lens at the walkway into the city's defence bunker. Just at the utmost extent of the camera's vision, he could see blast-proof bulkheads beginning to close over Starscream's sleek frame. The Air Commander would have less than ten seconds to get out of there...

He heard the F-15 transform, but just a moment too late. Starscream had just managed to clear the secondary blast panels, but his pede had become trapped in the locking mechanism. The primary bulkheads were already starting to close...

Astrotrain peeked out; half of his attention on the Air Commander, the other half on trying to fit an RPG into his sidearm. "Is 'Screamer OK!?"

Soundwave ducked back down and shook his head. "Uncertain. Risk of crushing by bulkheads; severe."

Another null-ray blast made the navy mech ready his own shoulder cannon.

Astrotrain finished fitting his RPG and rolled onto his front, ready to take another shot at Ultra Magnus should the City Commander be unwise enough to show his faceplates. "Was that him or have the Aerials turned up?"

Soundwave glanced up and refrained from rolling his optics as Starscream soared into the air, a cloud of smoke and ash billowing from his right pede, all the while howling "MY  _FOOT_!"at the top of his vocaliser.

Only Starscream could injure himself after getting trapped by a half-functioning city-former.

As his bondmate would say, take the little victories where you get them.

He immediately censored his thoughts. Thinking of Nightraider would open up the bond, and opening the bond now, at this distance...

Well...it would not benefit either of them.

Right now, there were bigger problems.

The blast doors were slamming shut all over the city; connecting bridges were withdrawing into their armoured bays, and the seemingly harmless looking towers that dotted the complex were slowly but steadily transforming into weapons arrays bristling with anti-aircraft missiles and laser cannons.

Dropping Reflector, uncaring of whether or not the little combiner was alright, Soundwave lunged out from behind the barricade and sent a trail of ion blasts after one unlucky red and grey Autobot, the last two blasts catching him in the shoulder and head as he sprinted into one of the emergency tunnels. The navy mech saw his enemy, with no small satisfaction, stagger and fall to his knees just as the blast door slammed shut.

Death would be soon, if not immediate.

Dismissing the soon-to-be corpse of Windcharger from his mind, he activated his comm. system. "Soundwave to Megatron. Autobot City defence mode; enabled. Primary blast doors; impenetrable."

* * *

At the other end of the comm., the Decepticon emperor hovered less than half a mile above the city and aimed a blast from his fusion cannon at the nearest bulkhead.

TCHOOM

Damn it.

Nothing but a cloud of flames and smoke.

He broadcast his next order over the general system: "BREACH THEIR DEFENCES!"

Out of the corner of his optic, he spied Shrapnel and Kickback swooping in from the north to feed upon the bulkhead he had fired at. Two Insecticons alone might not create a sizable breach, but it could provide an opportunity, or a distraction.

And speaking of distractions...

Megatron turned and sped off to locate his third-in-command, narrowly dodging a 'stray' blast from Starscream's general direction.

He fired right back and allowed himself a few seconds of satisfaction at the sound of the F-15's squeal of pain, before locating the vanguard trying to blast their way into the communications hub on the central platform.

* * *

Soundwave twisted out of the way of a missile and squeezed off a couple of shots at one of the laser turrets to his left. On either side of him, Ramjet and Thrust were keeping up a steady volley of null-ray blasts at the missile turrets and the assorted satellite dishes arranged along the top of the Crow's Nest.

He just about registered Megatron and Starscream landing and adding their own weapons fire to the mix, but it was impossible to tell if they were making any real difference. The two sides were too evenly matched; the Decepticons had the greater numbers and the element of surprise, but the Autobots had their fortress and the ability to...

He froze and silently cursed.

Of course.

The ability to contact the Moonbases and request reinforcements.

And as soon as he had thought it, Soundwave picked up the dulcet tones of the Autobot comms. specialist on his systems.

" **Optimus Prime, do you read me?! The Decepticons are blitzing Autobot City; we're really taking a pounding! Don't know how much longer we can hold out!** "

He narrowed his optics under his visor. Of  _course_  Blaster would be here. The red and yellow boom box possessed a great fondness for Earth and its cultures, as did most of his people. Monitoring duty on Luna Alpha and Luna Beta would have no doubt sent the mech into an impressive state of boredom, and so the Prime would  _naturally_  station him on his planet of choice.

But if the arrogant little upstart thought he could get the better of a communications specialist of Soundwave's experience, he was sadly mistaken.

He immediately relayed the Autobot's frantic message to Megatron and waited for orders.

The silver gunformer turned and glowered at him, murderous intent lighting his optics.

He pointed at the roof of the Crow's Nest. "Soundwave, jam that transmission!"

Inside Soundwave's tape-deck, all of the Cassettes tensed in anticipation.

They knew what was coming, and they were going to enjoy it.

Dodging an appallingly aimed anti-tank missile, Soundwave sprinted to the edge of the platform and slapped his Eject button.

"Rumble, Frenzy, Ravage, Ratbat; eject. Operation; interference."

The four Cassettes shot out of the storage compartment in a blur of red, blue, black, purple and gold.

_Keep your comms. active. We must know what Blaster has managed to transmit to Luna Alpha, if anything at all._

Inside the tape-deck, Laserbeak and Buzzsaw shifted anxiously. They knew why they had not been chosen for this mission – their wings were too fragile and their top speed was less than half of that of a Seeker. They would be targets at best, liabilities at worst.

It didn't stop either of them from worrying over their baby brother. Ratbat was surprisingly quick, and he had taken part in more than his fair share of skirmishes, but he had never fought in a battle of this intensity before.

Rumble and Frenzy were the first ones to transform and land on the roof of the communications tower, followed quickly by their eldest and youngest siblings. Ratbat hovered overhead while Ravage crouched next to the twins. This was a mission that would require their brothers' more...irritating abilities.

The blue Cassette flashed a grin at his ruby twin as they grasped the main satellite dish and started to wrench it back and forth between them. "Ready t' try fingerpaintin' with a lil' Autobot energon bro?"

"Dude, we talked about this. Follow th' plan!"

"We have a plan now?"

"Uh, yeah?"

Rumble thought for a second before a sadistic smirk made its way onto his faceplates. "Oh yeah..."

The satellite dish finally gave way with a horrific screech of twisting metal. Under the Plexiglas roof, Perceptor and Blaster stared up in horror.

Rumble's smirk twisted a little further. "First we crack the shell..."

Both twins transformed their arms into piledrivers.

"... _Then we crack the nuts inside_!"

The Plexiglas gave way after just a few seconds' pummelling. Rumble and Frenzy immediately latched onto the cowering form of Perceptor. Ravage and Ratbat followed suit; the black felinoid went straight for the microscope's jugular, and the little bat viciously strafed red plates with scratches and bites.

Surprisingly, Perceptor didn't back down. He threw a heavy punch at Frenzy, quickly putting the red mech on his aft. Ravage roared in pain as he was grabbed in midair and thrown across the room.

_You leave Ravage alone!_

Ratbat screeched and dived, latching into Perceptor's faceplates and digging his fangs into sensitive nasal plating hard enough to draw energon.

That was enough to push the microscope over the edge. He managed to shove Rumble out of the way long enough to scream, "Run Blaster, save yourself!" before he was dogpiled by the twins.

The boom box snarled. "No way! Two can play-"

Ravage took advantage of the pause and leapt at Blaster, claws unsheathed and dripping with oil and energon.

Blaster executed a perfect spinning kick.

CLANK

Ravage fell back with a yelp and hit the floor, hard. In his dazed state, he caught sight of the boom box hitting his own Eject button and snarled.

_Oh fragging_ _**fabulous** _ _._

"Sic 'em!"

Steeljaw, Ramhorn, Eject and Rewind emerged from Blaster's tape-deck in a sparkbeat.

The golden lion tackled Rumble off Perceptor's shoulders, barely missing Ratbat. The little bat screeched as Ramhorn charged into him from behind, Eject leaping over both of them to careen into Frenzy's fists. Rewind was quick to pull his own pistol and discharge a blast into Ravage's side, enough to make the panther retreat for a few crucial seconds.

Perceptor hauled himself off the floor and backed up towards Blaster.

"Do you think you got through to Prime?"

The red and yellow mech shrugged one shoulder. "Let's hope so, 'cause if I didn't, we're all gonna look like burnt-out toaster ovens!"

The microscope glanced back and readied his concussion rifle. "Any reinforcements coming from Autobot Headquarters?"

"I raised an alert as soon as I heard the first explosions-"

"So where  _are_  they? Omega Supreme, the Aerialbots..."

Blaster grimaced. "Sorry buddy, but they have their own problems to deal with."

* * *

**Oregon, Mount St. Hilary, the** _**Ark** _ **...**

* * *

KSHOOM

The blast didn't do much to damage the Guardian's armoured hide, but then, it didn't have to.

Bruticus drew his sonic stun-gun, red optics blazing like the Pit, and fired again, this time at the Guardian's arms.

BOOM

The explosion flung shards of dirt and metal into the air, obscuring the gestalt's view for a few seconds. Omega Supreme's massive red, grey and gold chassis finally appeared in a burst of laser fire, smoke curling up from his rocket gantry in satisfying black clouds.

Behind him, Superion and Defensor charged out of the  _Ark_ , the Aerial combiner peeling off a couple of shots at the ominous figure looming behind the Combaticon combiner's right shoulder.

Menasor landed beside him, Motormaster's energon sword gleaming in the summer sunlight.

"Menasor take stupid Aerialbots and Protectobots on  **together**!"

The other Combiner nodded and reloaded his stun gun with a sadistic smile.

"Bruticus  **destroy**  Autobot Guardian!"

Omega Supreme's optics narrowed.

"Situation...dire."

* * *

**Cybertron, Imperial City State of Iacon, the Imperial Tower, Medical Bay...**

* * *

Music pounded through the medbay speakers, the bass pounding through the tiles hard enough to shake a mech's pede plating loose. Knock Out held one end of his electro-trident to his mouth and crooned like an overclocked new-build at their first rave. " _ **...So you gotta feel for me baby!**_ "

Lyzack leaned back against him, throwing her head back against his shoulder plating as she provided surprisingly melodic back-up. " _ **Feel for me baby!**_ "

" _ **Yeah, you gotta feel for me baby!**_ "

" _ **Feel for me baby!**_ "

" _ **Yeah, you gotta feel for me baby!**_ "

" _ **Feel for me baby!**_ "

Lyzack span away as the young Aston Martin threw himself forward and slid across the floor on his knees. " _ **Oh, gimme some looooove!**_ "

A green medicine ball zoomed over his head, slamming into the spray-painted target on the wall. Sixshot twirled his club through his fingers like a cheerleader's baton and whooped.

Glit just checked his noise protectors were still in place and went back to sanitising the berths.

Quickly nudging another medicine ball into place with his foot, Dreadnought rested his wedge against his shoulder and shot a worried glance at the two senior femmes in the middle of the main ward, both glaring at each other with their hands on their hip-plates, and neither looking like they were willing to back down any time soon.

Nightraider rolled her optics and tried to ignore another wave of pain from her spark as the bond stretched. "Strika? My shift team, my medical bay, my rules. We aren't doing anyone any harm."

Strika's displeased expression didn't budge. "You are medical professionals. You should try acting like it occasionally."

"And I can tell you, right now, as I have done every time in the past seven million years when you've questioned my authority, this is as professional as we get when we have frag-all to do."

The cream and red tank resisted giving into the urge to cite the F-14 for insubordination and settled with glowering. "The majority of the Decepticon elite forces are on Earth. As of this moment, they are battling Autobot forces, both at Autobot City and at the Ark. You cannot be so stupid as to think that there won't be any casualties!"

"I'm not. Nor are my team." Nightraider made a sweeping gesture around the bay with her right arm. "In case it escaped your attention, the entire bay has been disinfected, reorganized and is functioning at full combat readiness, as is the weapons upgrade ward. All medical supplies have been logged and distributed, the operating theatre is sterilised and ready to use, and the triple-changer bay is-"

"Being used as a driving-range-slash-karaoke-booth."

"A soon to be  _sterile_  driving-range-slash-karaoke-booth, thank you very much. We can clear it in one breem, get the cleaning cycle run in less than two, and all non-medical equipment present can be subspaced immediately."

"And Sixshot?" Strika gestured at the massive green and white six-changer currently picking a miniscule fleck of dirt off of his nine-iron.

Nightraider shrugged. "Eh. We needed another player."

The Femme Commander opened her mouth to snap a retort back and quickly thought better of it. Spinning on her heel, she marched towards the main doors, fingers curling and uncurling voluntarily.

"On occasions such as this," she growled, pausing briefly at the doors and glaring over her shoulder at the amused F-14, "I do wonder why I bother wasting the space in my drives to record any of our interactions."

Nightraider grinned and cupped her hands against her mouth as the cream and red tank departed. "Just think of it as more material for my ever-impending and yet-never-to-be-attempted court-martial. You know, the one you've been trying to set up for-"

Dreadnought glanced over at the security monitor. "Ok, she's gone."

"-oh thank  _Primus_." The red and black jet exhaled deeply, grasped frantically behind her for the nearest berth with her left hand and sank down to her knees, her right arm crossing over her chestplates.

Despite Dreadnought's best efforts, the sedatives had taken that little bit too long to kick in, and right now, she was stuck with a badly stretched sparkbond that felt like it was trying to burn the casing from around her spark. Under normal circumstances, she would have dosed herself with a few shots of whatever was available in the stores, downed half a bottle of high-grade and then slept everything off in her office until Soundwave returned.

Unfortunately, full combat readiness prep for medics clearly stipulated that they had to remain sober and ready to online at full operational capacity in under three breems, so for now, she was on non-energon based pain suppressants, and stuck listening to her two primary EMTs performing their preferred karaoke set list at full volume while the second shift's chief engineer and the resident six-changer/rather bored S.T.A.G tried to put fist-sized dents in the walls from their golf practice.

She flinched again as another wave of pain raced through her spark.

At least fending off Strika proved to be a decent distraction. The Femme Commander had heard of the phrase 'nothing as unmilitary as a military medic', but she tended to disregard it when dealing with a medic who consistently demonstrated a low tolerance for outside interference, especially when it came to her team.

Nightraider was fully aware that Strika only interfered when her deeply suppressed mother-hen tendencies fought their way to the surface, so she had long since learned to just roll with it and not say anything that could warrant time in the cells.

Lyzack was busy scrolling through the shared music drive with Glit watching next to her, so Knock Out dumped his electro-trident atop the nearest cabinet and sauntered over to his commanding officer, quickly retrieving a cube of low-grade from his subspace. Kneeling down, he gently intertwined his fingers with hers and slipped the cube into her right hand.

"Morphine. I don't know if it'll take, but it can't be worse than the diclofenac."

Nightraider took a small sip and flashed a grateful look at the Aston Martin.

"You are some sort of horrible little red Avatar of Primus and I don't know what I did to deserve you."

Knock Out chuckled as he settled in next to the older femme and leaned back against the side of the berth, allowing Nightraider to use his shoulder as a somewhat solid cushion. "I think the phrase you're looking for is 'ridiculously attractive', and from what I remember, you didn't deserve me at all. I just simply refused to leave you after the whole business with Crossfire. "

The F-14 grimaced. "Let's not talk about that while I'm in pain please."

"Gotcha."

The opening strains of Little Red Corvette piped through the speakers, distracting the Aston Martin from his gaffe. He sighed and pouted as he leaned back against the berth.

Nightraider glanced up at him over the curve of his chestplate. "What's wrong?"

"It's just not the same listening to this and not having Breakdown around to..." He thought for a few seconds. "...entertain."

"For 'entertain', I'm assuming we're still swapping it with the phrase 'frag against the wall until all your plates give'?"

"Primus yes."

She sighed. "Sweetspark, I am so the wrong femme to get sympathy off right now. Just throwing that out there."

"For reference, are you going to do this every time Soundwave goes off-planet?"

The red and black jet twisted around enough to give the Aston Martin an unimpressed Look.

"I'm sparkbonded to a Decepticon officer. In fact, not just an officer, one of the two Thirds-in-Command. He's a massively tempting target for assassins both off the battlefield and on it. Any pain I suffer, he feels, and any pain he suffers, I feel. He's taken our creations with him. If one of them gets injured, he'll beat himself up about it until the day he offlines, and if one of them offlines, I honestly think he would follow right behind them, and me right behind him. Right now, I'm trying not to think or feel anything that could filter through the bond and distract him, and I'm  _really_  trying not to think about what could happen if he gets hurt.

"So yes, I'm going to do this every time Soundwave goes off-planet, and you don't get to comment on it unless you're sparkbonded yourself. I happen to know damn well that you're not, so quit whining."

Knock Out snorted and rolled his optics. "Hey, I'm allowed to-"

A sudden flash of green to his left stopped all of his thought processes. "INCOMING!"

The red mech shoved his mentor to the floor and flung himself in top of her as a medicine ball flew overhead, just brushing the pointed tip of his helm. It embedded itself in the wall with a somewhat worrying CRUNCH.

Sixshot shot a proud grin at the sprawled figures. "Not intentional, but impressive!"

Dreadnought cocked his head and studied the impact crater. "Nice swing. What're we calling that; par three, dogleg to the left?"

Knock Out growled from his position on the floor, "How about out of bounds, and you owe me a can of Turtle Wax?"

Disentangling herself from Knock Out's legs, Nightraider hauled herself to her feet and wrenched the medicine ball out of the wall. "Failing that, I'll call it a hole in one and you don't get to choose which end of the club goes in first!"

As the two medics, the engineer and the six-changer began to argue, Lyzack fondly scratched Glit behind one pointed audial and tapped at the music drive. "High Speed Dirt or Rock You Like a Hurricane?"

The silver feline purred gratefully. "As appropriate back-ground music or for another karaoke attempt?"

"Either/or at this point. Anything that distracts the rest of the team from thinking about what's happening on Earth can only be a good thing."

* * *

**North-west Colorado, the Rocky Mountains, Autobot City...**

* * *

From the relatively safe position under one of the main gun turrets, Megatron did a fast head count of the assembled mechs and smirked.

It was time to unleash their primary weapon.

"CONSTRUCTICONS, MERGE FOR THE KILL!"

No matter how many times Soundwave had witnessed the event over the years, there was always a tiny portion of his CPU that never failed to be impressed at the combining of the six Constructicons into one being.

Scrapper and Mixmaster transformed briefly into their alt-modes before shifting to form the legs. Scavenger, Long Haul and Bonecrusher immediately followed suit, forming the torso and arms, while Hook launched himself into the air, transforming mid-flight to combine with his brothers.

Devastator's massive cranium finally emerged from his shoulders, a vicious smile slashing across his faceplates.

" _ **PREPARE FOR EXTERMINATION!**_ "

The green and purple Combiner slammed his hand over the nearest laser cannon and crushed it to pieces. Skywarp and Thundercracker took up flanking positions, weapons charged.

The primary bulkhead started to crumble as Devastator tore at the orange plating, bolts and metal shards raining down over the assembled Decepticons.

Soundwave reloaded his rocket launcher. It would not be long now before they gained access to the city's inner sanctum. Once the bulkheads had fallen, all they would need to do was kill the remaining Autobots, locate the subsection of the base that was rumoured to house the cityformer Metroplex, and destroy his spark.

It would be a crippling blow to the Autobot war machine.

A sudden flash of light to his left pulled him out of his reflections.

A torpedo!

Megatron had also spotted it. "TAKE COVER!"

Soundwave immediately ducked and covered alongside the Insecticons as the torpedo exploded against Devastator's side. The Combiner shuddered for a moment, before growling and resuming his systematic destruction of the bulkhead.

Another flash to the left!

The second torpedo missed its mark, but the damage was done.

Soundwave felt himself being flung into the air from the force of the explosion, his rocket launcher falling from his hands. He crashed backwards into a heap of charred, twisted metal. Shards of steel dug into the secondary energon lines in his arms, and fresh pink-purple energon began to flow. Inside his tape-deck, Laserbeak and Buzzsaw screeched in fear.

The third torpedo walloped into Devastator less than a sparkbeat later.

The gestalt roared and heaved away one massive piece of the bulkhead. Turning more swiftly than any being his size had a right to, he pitched the gigantic sheet towards a nearby pillar-box, clearly the source of the torpedoes.

Soundwave gritted his dental plates and shut his optics in the light of the explosion. He yanked out a roll of medical-grade duct tape from his subspace and rolled it around the worst of his wounds.

There was no time for injuries now.

There was no time for rest now.

He pulled himself to his feet, sending a soothing psychic pulse to his two contained creations, and to the four Cassettes still clustered around Devastator's gargantuan feet.

_Follow my lead. Stay down. Aim for the remains of the pillar-box._

With that, he charged back into the battle.

* * *

TBC


	5. Part 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I blame the last few issues of MTMTE for this entirely.

 

* * *

**CE 2005, North-west Colorado, the Rocky Mountains, Autobot City...**

* * *

Terran nights were less than a quarter of the length of the average Cybertronian night, especially during the periods designated as the summer months. On those nights, having only four or five hours of darkness between the sun setting and rising was not uncommon.

To Soundwave, crouching behind a barricade constructed from the remains of a pillar box and two blast doors, his eldest Cassettes clustered around him and his youngest Cassettes safe inside his chest compartment, this summer night seemed endless.

He poked the muzzle of his ion blaster through a gap in the metal and squeezed off a volley of shots.

A concussion grenade exploded somewhere to his left.

Thundercracker soared overhead and strafed a turret with laser-fire. Screams echoed across the remains of Autobot City's main pavilion as the turret parted company with its main structure and crashed to the ground.

" _ **DEVASTATOR SMASH!**_ "

With a roar, Devastator wrenched an entire bulkhead to pieces, giant hands clawing furiously at the wiring and pipes within.

**TCHOOOOOOOooooooooommmm** mmmmmmm...

Ravage twisted his head around at the sound of the explosion. _That was the main generator. It's crashed._

Frenzy crouched next to his brother, piledrivers at the ready. "You sure?"

_Positive._

He looked back at his creator and nodded.

Soundwave activated his comm. and made a fast hand gesture in his commander's direction. "Lord Megatron. Autobot City; power disrupted."

In the trench opposite the barricade, Megatron readied his fusion cannon and snarled.

"Their defences are broken! Let the slaughter begin!"

Behind the barricade, Rumble shared a Look with his twin. "Really? Because we weren't doin' that already?"

Ravage hissed. _Time and a place._

Frenzy transformed his arms into piledrivers. "Jus' tryin' t' lighten the mood, kittykat."

"Silence, all of you. We have a problem."

Soundwave nodded at the lightening skies above the smouldering city.

Megatron had seen it too.

An orange and gold Autobot ship, the twin of the recently-destroyed _Rebellion_ , roared overhead, early morning sunlight gleaming off its unblemished hull.

The _Revolution_.

Optimus Prime's personal transport.

So the Prime had shown up himself. And he had bought...

Soundwave cursed inwardly.

Four instantly recognisable brainwave patterns, all overlaid with lashings of primal rage.

A familiar roar echoed across the mountains. "DINOBOTS TRANSFORM!"

The giant green and purple Combiner turned around and gaped upwards at the rapidly approaching airborne quartet.

Grimlock, Sludge, Slag and Swoop descended on Devastator with all the grace and accuracy of Academy freshmen during a 2-for-1 offer on triple-distilled engex at Maccadam's.

The T-rex was shoved away with a reverse kick.

The Diplodocus was punched in the back and thrown at his snarling leader.

The Triceratops took advantage of the distraction and ploughed into Devastator's legs, shoving him into the remains of the bulkhead.

The Pteranodon swooped in for the kill...and was crushed by a large chunk of falling debris, while Devastator lay in a dazed heap.

Soundwave didn't need to scan the fallen combiner to know that its six distinct personalities were starting to resurface. It would only be a matter of time before the individual Constructicons re-emerged.

But there was no time for that now. With a wave of his cannon, the Decepticon emperor charged out of the trench towards the gaping hole in the bulkhead left by Devastator. Soundwave launched himself out from the shelter of the barricade and followed his leader up the main thoroughfare towards the central control complex, Blitzwing, Shrapnel, and the two elite Trines following in his wake. Rumble and Frenzy darted off through a small alleyway, optics blazing with malicious intent. Ravage followed them, energon dripping from his muzzle and growling furiously.

It was all falling into place...

Until a screech of tyres halted his surge of triumphant thoughts.

He turned back and snarled.

Optimus Prime was charging towards them in vehicle mode, his tyres leaving skidmarks on the dirt orange metal.

Thrust hesitated for just a second too long, long enough to see his shocked faceplates in the Prime's shining grill.

CRUNCH

The impact sent the red and black Conehead soaring into the air.

Shrapnel darted to his left, but was caught under a reinforced Pirelli with a permanent-sounding crunch.

Blitzwing, who was slightly faster on the uptake than the other two, launched himself into the air, turned and started laying down a barrage of laser-fire on the charging Prime.

Taking his cue, Soundwave pulled his own laser pistol out and started firing, Ramjet and Thundercracker following his lead.

None of this seemed to phase the Prime. Transforming out of his alt-mode, he launched himself into the air in a reverse flip that would have made a Galactic gymnast green with envy.

Two shots to the two jets, and Soundwave was staring into the upside-down face-mask of one of the greatest Autobots in Cybertronian history.

He readied his pistol...

CHOOM

Everything fell into darkness.

* * *

_...Boss? Boss?!_

Pressing a hand to his head and wincing at the pain in his chestplates, Soundwave rolled over onto his back and made an attempt at sitting up. Inside his chest compartment, Buzzsaw and Laserbeak both groaned and uncurled themselves from around Ratbat's dazed purple and gold frame.

_...BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!_

_...Silence Rumble, I am fine._

_Yeah,_ _**you're** _ _OK, Megatron ain't!_

The Communications officer went motionless for a sparkbeat.

_Explain._

Frenzy took over on the comms. channel. " _He's goin' up against the Prime, and they ain't goin' t' first energon before Megatron calls a retreat like before. This is it._ "

Soundwave stood up, dismissing the numerous warning messages his CPU was screaming at him.

" _I think one of 'em's gonna die._ "

Without thinking, he started to run towards the sound of laser fire and metal pounding on metal. The twins were standing with a group of Decepticons gathered at the foot of a damaged building complex, all optics fixed on two...no, three figures on the platform above.

Ravage silently appeared at his side, his sleek black and grey frame pockmarked and scratched by bullets and fire.

_The two were evenly matched, until a red and orange Autobot new-build blundered into the fray and tried to attack Megatron._

"How badly is he damaged?"

The jaguar growled as he ran. _Impossible to tell, but he and Prime aren't pulling any punches. Frenzy is right._

Soundwave skidded to a halt and stared up, optics searching out the silver form of his leader, and the red and blue frame of the Prime.

Megatron was standing at the edge of the platform, gripping a blaster in his right hand. Beside him, the same red and orange Autobot who had spotted them on board the _Rebellion_ was sprawled on the ground.

The smell of burnt energon filled the air.

The Decepticon emperor's words echoed around the complex.

"...hah...I would have waited an _eternity_ for this. It's over, Prime."

A beat of silence.

Soundwave felt it before anyone heard or saw it.

"NEVER!"

* * *

The crash of chestplates shattering would fill Soundwave's audials until the day he offlined.

The sight of Megatron of Tarn flying backwards from the sheer might of the Prime's last punch was forever scarred into his CPU.

Somehow, he didn't hear the noise Megatron's frame made as he was flung from the platform, landing so heavily that several servos in his arms and legs were destroyed.

He ran almost blindly until he was standing beside his liege's crushed head. Rumble and Frenzy quietly moved to flank him.

Behind him, Ravage growled.

Inside his chest compartment, Buzzsaw and Ratbat were sandwiching Laserbeak against the back of the tiny space in a desperate attempt to stop the scarlet condor ejecting to sit with her injured comrade.

Electrical charges tore through Megatron's body. Energon leaked freely from somewhere under his helm. His burned and blistered fingers spasmed uncontrollably.

A gleam of reddish-white light gleamed under crushed chestplates.

Soundwave averted his optics.

He was now painfully aware of the tiny communications device hidden in his wrist. The one he had thought that we would never have the need to use.

No.

This was not how it was supposed to end...

* * *

Starscream's words were painfully predictable.

" _How_ do you _feel_ , _mighty_ Megatron?"

He aimed a vicious kick at his leader's side and turned sharply away, activating the general comms. channel.

" _Astrotrain_ , transform and get us _out_ of here!"

Soundwave ignored the jet and focused on Megatron's shaking frame.

The silver gun-former weakly raised his head and fixed Soundwave's visor with his own desperate optics.

"...Uuuuuhhhh...don't leave me Soundwave..."

* * *

_"Do you understand now why I cannot and will not fully condone your actions, Soundwave?"_

_"Because that care and concern for your mate makes you weak. Because your loyalty is now divided. Because you are now..."_

_The whine of the fusion cannon charging was unmistakable._

_The Decepticon warlord aimed the barrel at Soundwave's bowed cranium._

_"...a liability."_

_With an immense amount of concentration, Soundwave managed to block the worst of the physiological pain and met his commander's gaze with bleary optics. What Megatron had said was true. He was a liability._

_He inhaled deeply, only too aware of what could happen next, and stretched a shaking hand up towards Megatron._

_"Request...plea: do not leave me...sir."_

_The silver gun-former studied the hunched chassis before him in tense silence._

_Begging._

_Soundwave, the mech who epitomised self-control and quiet strength, reduced to begging for his life like an Autobot or a Neutral._

_In any other case, he would have shot the mech or femme with barely a pause for reflection._

_But Soundwave..._

_One black hand reached down and firmly grasped the trembling navy digits. Soundwave shuttered his optics a few times and tried to focus._

_Megatron hauled him to stand upright, his optics now an unreadable crimson._

_"An optic for an optic. A life for a life."_

* * *

An optic for an optic. A life for a life.

Soundwave didn't even hesitate.

He knelt down and gathered his fallen commander into his arms. "As you command, Megatron."

Astrotrain landed gracelessly a few hundred yards away and transformed into his locomotive alt-mode, uncaring of the laser blasts flying past him.

The Constructicons, along with the Insecticons and the five battered frames of the Elite Trines, scrambled frantically over all of the rubble and scrap metal towards Astrotrain.

Soundwave, cradling Megatron in his arms as carefully as he would one of his own creations, sprinted towards the triple-changer. Beside him, Rumble was jogging along and clutching desperately onto Megatron's fusion cannon.

Frenzy and Ravage sprinted ahead and scrambled into Astrotrain's travel compartment.

Soundwave and Rumble were the last to board before Starscream reappeared in the hatchway, his dark faceplates set with a curious rigidity.

"Astrotrain, take off!"

The hatch closed.

The engines roared.

Astrotrain shifted into his shuttle mode and roared into the skies above Autobot City.

The damage was done.

* * *

**Cybertron, Imperial City State of Iacon, the Imperial Tower, Medical Bay...**

* * *

"OK Lyzack, your go."

The teal tetra-jet grabbed the two dice from Dreadnought's open palm, shook them in her hands a couple of times, and then dropped them unceremoniously on the board.

Knock Out quickly righted his city and one of his roads, and glared at his colleague. "Hey, quit destroying my settlements!"

Lyzack ignored him. "Whatever. Ooooh, three!"

Dreadnought, Glit and Nightraider all groaned while Knock Out's grumpy expression quickly morphed into excitement.

"Two rocks and a sheep thing. Gimme gimme gimme!"

Nightraider slapped the relevant cards into his outstretched hand and pouted.

"And you couldn't have rolled an eight and made my life easier?"

The younger femme rolled her optics. "I don't make the rules, I just have the luck. Anyway, who wants to trade?"

Dreadnought scanned his cards and pondered, chewing on his glossa for a moment.

"Ummm, wheat stuff for pretty much anything."

"I have wood?"

Knock Out snickered into his cards. Nightraider leaned over and managed to cuff him over the head without dislodging a dozing Crossfire from her lap. Glit ignored the pair of them and studied his cards.

Dreadnought squinted an optic shut and plucked a card out of his hand. "Done."

He and the teal tetra-jet traded cards.

Lyzack winked and rearranged her cards. "Pleasure doing business."

Dreadnought grinned and glanced around. "Sweet. Anyone else?"

Glit pouted slightly. _I fear I have nothing useful until the next round._

Knock Out glared at his CMO. "Nope, and I'd be doing a lot better if _someone_ hadn't put the robber on one of my tiles."

Nightraider smirked. "My spark bleeds for you, it really does. Suck it up and move on."

VWORP VWORP VWORP

All five players immediately turned towards the sound of the siren.

Nightraider quickly passed Crossfire over to Dreadnought and tapped her comm. link as she stood up. "Status report Shockwave, who's back?"

The Military Operations officer's voice remained as steady as always. " _Strike Team Beta has returned to base. Injuries are predominantly minor._ "

"Acknowledged. Any word on Strike Team Alpha?"

" _No reports at present._ "

"OK, keep me posted. Nightraider out."

She looked back and was pleased to see Dreadnought had already settled Crossfire into his crib, and was busy clearing the remains of their game from her desk. In the main bay, Lyzack and Knock Out were already spraying each other's hands and arms with disinfectant, while Glit had activated the medical drones and was laying out surgical instruments on the operating trolleys next to each berth.

She strode out of her office and grabbed a disinfectant spray.

"Lyzack, you're with me on any servo damage. Knock Out; cuts, scrapes, anything that just needs a clean and a kick out the door. Dreadnought, get the surgical bay sterilised and deal with anything broken and/or gushing. Glit, you're co-ordinating."

The quartet nodded and split up.

"And Knock Out?"

The Aston Martin paused in the storeroom doorway.

"I appreciate that Breakdown is returning, but if I see your aft or his disappearing into my office at any point, you're on surgical sluice duty for the next decacycle. Clear?"

He offered a mocking salute. "As the crystals in the Helix Gardens."

Nightraider rolled her optics and finished spraying her hands just as the medbay doors burst open, and a group of energon and mud-stained mechs poured into the room.

* * *

Onslaught and Vortex were supporting a limping Swindle, but the Jeep's purple optics were alert and there were no obvious energon bleeds on his frame. Blast Off and Brawl followed closely behind, the space shuttle squeezing shut a gash in his left arm with his fingers, while the Leopard tank was poking at something jammed into his anti-aircraft gun and looking remarkably sour under the dirt and oil covering his faceplates.

An exhausted Motormaster slung Wildrider's unconscious frame onto the nearest berth and slumped down against the wall. Dragstrip, hooting with glee and covered in what looked like someone else's energon, slapped Dead End on the back, causing the maroon Porsche to howl in pain.

Breakdown, dented and limping but very much online, broke away from his brothers and frantically scanned the room.

The black and red femme jet sighed and opted to take pity on the paranoid Lamborghini. "He's in the stores. Stay. Heel. Whatever."

The mech in question marched out of the stores with two industrial solder reels around each arm.

Nightraider hauled one of the reels off of his shoulders and leant it against a nearby berth. "Remember what I said."

Knock Out looked askance for a moment before he caught sight of Breakdown.

* * *

He blinked frantically as his hands clenched spasmodically into fists.

Dented.  
Safe.  
Online.  
Dented.  
Safe.  
Online.

Fully aware that he couldn't drag the white and blue mech off to his quarters quite yet, he contented himself with grabbing Breakdown's arm, standing on the tips of his pedes and resting his helm against his lover's forehead.

Breakdown wrapped a hand around one of the Aston Martin's shaking fists and sighed.

"Still here. Still standing."

Knock Out let out a brief laugh. "As if you were supposed to be anything else."

The taller mech shrugged and stepped back. Knock Out reluctantly did the same.

"Any word yet on the others?"

"Sweet frag-all, but at this point, no news is good news, right?"

Dreadnought sailed past and threw a box of zinc patches at the Aston Martin's head. "No Red, no news is no news, so quit with the speculating and do your—GYAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGHHHH!"

The battlecruiser roared and clenched a hand over his spark chamber as he collapsed, his optic band flaring white with pain.

* * *

The scream would have distracted everyone if they hadn't all felt the exact same thing at that exact moment.

Any mech on a berth bolted upright in pain.

Any mech or femme standing collapsed to their knees.

A terrified shriek emerged from Crossfire's crib as he wrapped his little arms around his body in distress.

Every Decepticon present clutched desperately at their chestplates.

Nightraider, now lying on the floor next to a surgical berth, blind and deaf to anything except her own pain, panicked.

_Not Soundwave, not Soundwave, not Soundwave, please Primus_ _**no** _ _..._

Without thinking, she closed her optics and reached into the bond.

* * *

Inside Astrotrain's crowded cabin, Soundwave simply braced himself on all fours against the shaking floor and tried not purge his last energon ration.

Inside his chest compartment, the six Cassettes huddled together in agony, two screams, three shrieks and an echoing snarl tearing from their gathered alt-modes.

At the very edges of his consciousness, he realised every other mech on board was reacting in the exact same way. Most were on the floor, rolling about in a combination of spark pain and their own injuries. A few were braced against the walls and their shaking comrades. An unlucky couple of slaggers, Skywarp chief amongst them, had purged their tanks over themselves, but for once there was a good reason for it.

On the floor beside him, his head propped up on his own fusion cannon, Megatron clutched a battered, misshapen hand over his spark chamber and howled in pain.

A simultaneous spark-attack?

No. That would be impossible. No force in existence connected every Cybertronian's spark.

Apart from...

Soundwave's optics widened in disbelief.

It couldn't be...

The tearing agony receded for just a moment before another pain, a more familiar pain tugged at his spark.

A stretched spark-bond.

...Nightraider.

Her panicked whisper echoed through his mind and spark.

_Please, speak to me. Where are you? What's happened?_

He reached into the bond and sent a short but powerful burst of emotion to his mate.

* * *

_I am alive. I am returning. I love you. Close the bond now._

* * *

Following the brief transmission, Nightraider closed the bond with a sigh of relief, then groaned as the pain from around her spark receded to a bearable level.

"...Ohhhhhh...what the _actual_ frag?"

She managed to twist herself around to face a very pale Knock Out, clinging to Breakdown's trembling frame like a limpet mine, and a woozy-looking Dreadnought. Lyzack groaned and pushed herself up off the floor, and Glit managed a couple of wobbly steps before he sank down to the floor in a white and silver ball.

She managed to stand up long enough to scan the room. " _Primus_...guys, everyone still online?"

A chorus of affirmative-sounding groans and whimpers met her audials, all undercut by a sparkling's traumatised shriek. She braced herself against the nearest berth and raised her voice.

"Crossfire, sweetspark? I'll be there as soon as I can. Don't be scared."

The little mech's wails of pain died down to quavering sobs.

She sat back down against the berth and tentatively prodded at her chestplates.

Nothing looked out of place, but what she had felt, what everyone had felt, was horrifying.

Pain was one thing. This was agony beyond a stretched spark-bond, beyond grief, beyond loss. There was a sense of something having been taken, something that they had all grown so accustomed to that its absence was terrifying.

Her comm. beeped.

" _CMO Nightraider, please respond_."

Even the Military Operations officer sounded dazed.

She tapped her comm. and closed her optics. "Acknowledged. I'm guessing you felt that too."

" _Indeed. Strika and Obsidian are present, and they too have confirmed the shared sensation._ "

"Tell me about it. I've got a medbay full of very baffled, very sore mechs, and I'm guessing I'm about to have a hundred petrified 'Cons breaking down the door in the next few breems."

In the control room, Shockwave leaned carefully back in his chair and tried not to feel how desperately his scarred spark was racing.

"Console them with this knowledge. This was a _shared_ spark attack. From the comms chatter, it appears to have affected Autobots and Decepticons alike. I am hypothesising that every living Cybertronian will have felt this sensation, but only a small number of us will have felt it before."

Dreadnought's voice warbled through the speaker. " _And where would we have felt this befo-_ "

He cut himself off. " _Oh_ _ **Primus**_ _. I remember._ "

In the medbay, Nightraider hitched air through her vents as she searched back in her CPU.

The relevant memory surfaced. Her entire frame started to shake.

"...The end of the Golden Age."

The battlecruiser lay back on the floor, one hand covering his optical band.

"The Combaticons will definitely have felt this before, but the Stunties and the two newbies are way too young. You and I, maybe Glit, definitely Obsidian and Strika, Deathsaurus...frag, at least half of _Leviathan_ 'll know what this means."

Knock Out, Breakdown and Lyzack had all been leaning against each other listening to the elder 'Con's conversation with growing confusion. The teal tetra-jet's patience finally gave out.

"What do _you_ , what do _they_ have to do with all of _**this**_?"

She waved an arm in the general direction of the two groaning combiner teams.

Dreadnought's voice was thin. "When Sentinel Prime fell, every living Cybertronian felt his spark extinguishing, no matter where they were or what they were doing. They all felt him rejoin the Matrix."

Knock Out's optics widened in shock.

"Then...if all of us just felt that...that means..."

* * *

In the control room, Shockwave tapped at a console and scanned a newly received message from the orbital listening posts.

The hypothesis was confirmed.

He activated the general comms. system.

"To all Decepticon troops. By now, you will be aware that at 09:52 Iacon Time, every Decepticon on Cybertron suffered a shared spark attack. The phenomenon has since been confirmed to have affected the entire Cybertronian race."

His air vents stuttered. He paused for just a moment, long enough to stare down at his one remaining hand, and clenched it into a shaking fist.

"This phenomenon has been previously documented and has occurred only once in living memory. I am now in a position to confirm that as of 09:52 Iacon Time..."

He bowed his blocky head and offlined his single optic in a rare show of respect. Behind him, Obsidian and Strika did the same.

"...the Autobot leader, Optimus Prime, formerly Orion Pax of Iacon, has rejoined the Matrix."

* * *

TBC


End file.
